Intermittent fountain feed polish applicator with composite head



May 21, 1963 Filed April 9, 1959 W. PERCIVAL INTERMITTENT FOUNTAIN FEED POLISH APPLICATION WITH COMPOSITE HEAD 3 Sheets-Sheet l Figi.

l l lA El l May 21, 1963 Filed April 9, 1959 W. PERCIVAL INTERMITTENT FOUNTAIN FEED POLISH APPLICATION WITH COMPOSITE HEAD 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 May 21,. 19613r w PERclvAL 3,090,060

INTERMITTENT' FOUNTAIN FEED POLISH APPLICATION WITH coMPosITE HEAD Filed April 9, 1959 3v Sheets-Sheet 3 /nven/or W/LL/AM PERc/ml.

United States Patent Oil ice 3,090,060- Patented May 21, 1963 3,090,060 INTERIWITTENT FOUNTAIN FEED PLISH APPLI- CATOR WITH COMPOSITE HEAD William Percival, Scraptoit, England, assignor to J. Goddard & Sons Limited, Leicester, England Filed Apr. 9, 1959, Ser. No. 805,204 Claims priority, application Great Britain Apr. 9, 1958 Claims. (Cl. 15-S47) This invention is for improvements in or relating to polish applicators and has for one of its obects to provide a simple and convenient form of applicator suitable for mounting on a broom handle to facilitate the application iof polish in a uniform manner to oors or other surfaces.

In accordance with the invention there is provided a liquid applying head or holder having a mounting on its underside for a liquid `applying pad and a mounting on its upper part for a canister adapted to receive the latter in an inverted ,attitude with its cap removed and a throughway for conducting liquid @or semi-liquid from the canister to a liquid applying pad when on the mounting therefor. The `expressions underside yand upper part refer to portions of the head which are so pos1- tioned in the attitude of use. Conveniently the head or holder is provided with a passageway or passageways so arranged as to conduct the liquid or semi-liquid from the canister and distribute it over a pad on the pad mounting. When the -device is in use with the pad and canister mounted in position the pad is adapted to have an exposed face ydirected towards the floor or other surface and liquid, for example polish, is caused to pass as -required with the :assistance of gravity into the pad from the canister. Normally there is employed a canister similar to those commonly used for metal polishes and with the canister linverted liquid is prevented by the wellknown action of atmospheric pressure from pouring freely from the canister. The pad is arranged to be compressible so that on being :alternately compressed and released during liquid application by the pad it will intermittently exert a pumping land/or suction action to abstract the liquid from the canister approximately in the amounts needed to keep the pad properly charged.

It is found in practice that the use of ra sponge like pad such as one formed of foam rubber or foam plastic to Iapply liquid polish directly to la Isurface to be polished tends to give rise to the polish being deposited in an undesirable frothy condition. According to a further provision yof the invention this disadvantage is overcome by covering the underface of the pad wih a layer of porous cloth. Thus the invention contemplates providing a polishing 'head comprising a body portion having mounted on its underside a compressible porous pad, preferably having a layer of porous cloth covering its underface, a mounting for a canister on the upper part of the body portion to hold an open canister in inverted -attitude and a passageway or passageways for conducting liquid or semi-liquid from the canister mounting to` the compressible pad. Conveniently the mounting for the canister comprises a hollow projection on the holder forming la socket to receive and hold the neck yof the canister with a liquid tight connection, with the passageway or passageways in communication with the interior of the canister. By appropriate design of the head it can be arranged that a passageway therein extending from the canister mounting is suciently restricted to prevent escape of liquid from the inverted canister except when an equivalent volume of air is forced into the canister, and that air is injcted through such passageway when the pad is corupressed against a smooth surface to release the liquid as needed.

A preferred form of construction in accordance with the invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying -drawings and will now be described with reference to the drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of an assembled polishing head with a handle `and polish canister iitted to it,

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation View on La somewhat enlarged scale of the parts vshown in FIG. l,

FIGURE 3 is a ldetail cross sectional view taken on the line III-III of FIG. 2,

FIGURE 4 is a front elevation view shown partly in central cross section of the parts shown in FIG. 2,

FIGURE 5 is an exploded View :in front elevation and partly in central cross section of the parts which make up the holder,

FIGURE 6 is an under plan view of the parts shown in FIG. 5 when assembled, `and FIGURE 7 is a plan view of a polishing pad partly broken away to indicate its construction.

The polishing hea-d .as shown in FIG. l comprises a body indicated generally at 10 provided with a mounting in a central raised :part 11 for an inverted canister C and a mounting socket 12 for a handle 13. The body 10 is fitted across its under part with a polishing pad 14 which is attached around the edges cf the body by means of ran endless clamping strap 15 shaped to lit the peripheral contour of the body 10. The strap 15 is preferably of such thickness as to project slightly trom Ithe body 10 and pad 14 so as to serve :as a buifer.

As can -be seen more clearly from FIGS. 2 and 4 the canister C, which may be cylindrical, has a screwed neck portion 16 which after the closure cap has been removed is adapted to be screwed into a screw threaded recess 17 in the top of the body 10 so that the canister is supported on the head in inverted attitude. In this attitude the liquid or semi-liquid polish in the canister would normally tend to escape through the hollow neck 16 but this is counteracted by utilising the well-known action of atmospheric pressure to prevent the contents `from ilowing from the canister except when replacement lair can enter the canister. This is ensured by the fact that the escape route from the inverted canister is coniined to a short and relatively narrow vfeed passage 18 leading downwards from the center of the screwed recess 17, the neck 16 having a close liquid tight tit Iin the recess 17. The passage 18 is made sufliciently small to prevent air normally from seeping upwardly through it into the canister while liquid is in' the passage, but has a s-uicient cross-section to suph ply the required amount of liquid to the pad when air is forced through the passage into the canister. The psassage 18 leads to two slant-ing branch passages 19 extend ing towards the two sides and a vertical branch passage 19a all opening at Ztl on to the bottom of the holder.

The bottom face of the body of the head which is presented to the pad 14 is formed with criss-cross shallow recesses 20a (FIG. 6) forming communicating liquid distribution channels and the openings 20 lead into certain of such recesses at intersections thereof. Thus it will be seen that the liquid or semi-liquid polish, when caused to issue from the canister C, will pass through the main passage 18 and down the branch passages 19 and `19a to -the criss-cross recesses 20a and become distributed along such recesses over the whole area of the pad 14. i

For convenience and economy in manufacture the body of the construction illustrated is formed from Vmoulded plastic in three parts namely a cover part 21 which incorporates the raised part 11 and the handle socket 12; a middle or main part 22 which presents most of the bottom Iface of the body having the criss-cross recesses 20a and has an upturned rim 23 to provide the sides of the body and a central upstanding boss 24 Vin which the screw threaded recess 17 is formed and an insert part 25 of narrow elongated form in plan and triangular in elevation which ts into a correspondingly shaped recess in the centre of the bottom of the main part 22 and affords between it and Ithe latter the slanting branch passages 19'. The cover portion 21 has depending flanges 26 and 27 to fit around the boss 24 and within the side walls 23 on the main part 22 so that the parts can readily be fitted together in proper registry. The three parts 21, 22 and 25 are secured together on assembly by adhesive or plastic welding `at the points of engagement with the flanges 26 and 27 and at the engaging surfaces of the parts 22 and 25.

The polishing pad 14 is in accordance with the invention for-med of compressible porous construction having resilient properties so that when compressed and released it will exert a pumping action through the Arecesses 20a and passages 19 and 17 whereby liquid or semi-liquid polish is dispensed from the container in accordance with requirements. This effect is conveniently secured by forming the pad of a double layer construction comprising an upper layer 28 of open cell foam rubber or foam plastic providing lresilient properties combined with porosity, land a lower or outer layer 29 of porous fabric. A particularly suitable fabric for the layer 29 is a warp knitted fabric of man made fiber such as nylon and preferably a fabric knitted from a bulked yarn and formed with a shallow pile on its under or outer surface and a smooth upper or inner surface. The paid as shown in FIG. 7 is cut to an outline corresponding to but larger than the outline in plan of the head and has its layers bound together around their edges by stitching indicated at 30 or otherwise.

In 'mounting the pad on the body part the edge portions of the composite pad are turned upwardly around the wall 23 and gripped by the strap 15 which in clamping the pad compresses the peripheral portions of the layer 28. The fact that the fabric layer 29 as well as the layer 28 have two way stretch properties enables the edge portion of the pad to be bedded smoothly against the wall 23 without pleating or puckering and the margin of the pad is compressed against an outwardly projecting flange 31 provided -by the cover part 21. The strap 15 which projects somewhat beyond the flange 31 is conveniently formed from a suitable plastic to enable it to act effectively as Aa butter. The strap 15 is arranged to be readily removable to enable lthe pad to Vbe detached for ease of Washing or otherwise cleaning the pad and its holder after use.

I rIhe construction of the pad 14 and the resilient compressibility of its layer 28 cause the under face of the pad to occupy a convex form when applied as viewed in side elevation, see particularly FIG. 2. This is advantageous in that when the pad is rested on and is moved across a surface to be polished a shallow tapering gap exists between its leading and trailing portions and the surface, which assists by capillary action in ensuring the deposition of an even film of liquid or semi-liquid polish on the surface.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 the polishing head is con'- veniently provided with a fixing screw 32 lformed integrally with or -attached to a ring 33 by which the device may be suspended when not invuse in an inverted attitude with the canister C hanging downwardly. Such lixing screw is provided on the under side of the socket 12 and passes through an aperture therein to screw into the end portion of the handle 13.V

For use in polishing a door or other surface a canister C containing the polish to be applied has its screw cap removed and is screwed into the recess '17 in the top of the head whilst the canister is right way up and the head '10 inverted. When the canister has been screwed firmly into the polishing head with the pad -14 already applied tothe head the whole assembly is inverted and applied to the surface to be polished. The polish is retained in the canister by the Well-known action of atmospheric pressure preventing it from running down the main passage 18 in the holder until an equivalent quantity of air is admitted into the canister. Holding the device by the handle 13 the polishing head is moved to and fro across the sur-face and this movement causes the compressible layer -28 of the pad 114 to be alternately compressed and released and to move into and out of the channels 20a and thereby set up a pumping action through the passages 19, y19a and 18. Such action admits smallquantities of air into the canister and permits corresponding amounts of polish to escape therefrom and pass through the passages 18, 19 and 19a and the channels 2da on to the pad 14. The pad thereby becomes charged with polish so that in its movements across the surface it is caused to deposit a thin lilm of polish thereon. During continued use of the device the passages 18, 19 and 19a continue to be partly charged with polish while retaining in them a sufficient quantity of air to enable the pumping action and release of further polish to continue as required. Thus the polishng pad is kept automatically charged with polish by having additional amounts supplied which are just sufficient to compensate for the amounts deposited by the pad on the surface being polished. The porous compressible layer 28 of the pad functions not only to set up the pumping action but also to act as a retainer of a suiiicient quantity of polish to ensure even distribution thereof for short or long sweeps of the polishing head over the surface being polished.

The criss-cross channels 20a in the bottom of the body portion serve not only to facilitate the pumping action aforesaid, but also to ensure a good distribution of the polish over the whole area of the pad. In sorne circumstances however such distribution channels may lbe partly or wholly dispensed with and absorption properties of the porous layer 28 may be relied on for distribution of the liquid polish, the pumping action being secured by reduction in the volume of an internal or surface cavity on compression of the pad.

It will be understood that in carrying out the invention, the structure of the head may be modified in various ways from that shown in the drawings, while still providing a head on which a canister may be mounted in inverted attitude to supply liquid through a passage way or passage ways to a com-pressible pad the action of which is to abstract liquid from the canister by pumping action in accordance with the requirements. The head may if desired be constructed in metal 1(e.g. a light weight metal such as aluminum or light alloy) or other suitable material.

What I claim is:

l. In a liquid applying device having an inverted canister with a vneck and a compressible pad associated therewith, a liquid applying head comprising, in combination, a top portion having an opening substantially in the center thereof and a recessed bottom, a matching central part fitted against said recessed bottom of said top portion from underneath so as to engage the underside of said top portion, said central part having a hollow neck below the opening of said top portion to receive the neck of the canister, a main passageway for conducting liquid by capillary action from the canister toward the pad, said main passageway being provided vertically -in said central part and leading downwardly from said hollow neck and a conical recess having its highest central point at the lower end of said main passageway, and an insert lit-ting into said recess so that a clearance remains between the surface of the recess and the surface of the insert whereby outwardly sloping branch passageways are formed, the bottom face of said liquid applying head being formedpartly by the outer portion of said central part and partly by the botom face of said insert, said branch passageways being in direct interconnection with said main passageway.

2. A liquid applying head as claimed in claim 1, wherein channel-like recesses are provided in the bottom face of said head into which recesses said branch passages extend.

3. In a liquid applying device having an inverted canister with a neck associated therewith, a liquid applying head comprising, in combination, a top portion having an opening substantially in the center thereof and a recessed bottom, a matching central part fitted against said recessed bot-tom of said top portion from underneath so as to engage the underside of said top portion, said central part having a hollow neck below the opening of said top portion to receive the neck of the canister, a main passageway for conducting liquid by capillary action from the canister downwardly, said main passageway being provided vertically in said central part and leading downwardly from said hollow neck, and a conical recess having its highest central point at the lower end of said main passageway, an insert fitting into said recess so that a clearance remains between the surface of the recess and the surface ofthe insert whereby outwardly sloping branch passageways are formed, the bottom face of said liquid applying head being formed partly Iby the outer portion of said central part and partly by the bottom face of said insert, said `branch passageways being in direct interconnection with said main passageway, and a pad, said pad being 'attached to the bottom face of said head.

4. A liquid applying head as claimed in claim 3, Where- 6 in channel-like recesses are provided in the -bottom face of said head against which said pad is disposed, and into which recesses said branch passages extend.

5. A liquid applying head as claimed in claim 3, wherein said pad is compressible so as to inject air into said main passageway so as t0 allow liquid feed to said pad to take place by capillary action.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,599,708 Gedge Sept. 14, 1926 1,616,767 Stevens Feb'. 8, 1927 1,697,761 Gleeson Jan. 1, 1929 1,915,902 Schrader June 27, 1933 1,983,640 Karlstrom Dec. 1'1, 1934 2,307,858 Rufo Jan. 12, 1943 2,438,338 Horn Mar. 23, 1948 2,505,295 Meyers Apr. 25, 1950 2,853,728 Nadai Sep-t. 30, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 118,664 Switzerland Jan. 17, 1927 1,057,733 France Oct. 28, 1953 

1. IN A LIQUID APPLYING DEVICE HAVING AN INVERTED CANISTER WITH A NECK AND A COMPRESSIBLE PAD ASSOCIATED THEREWITH, A LIQUID APPLYING HEAD COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION, A TOP PORTION HAVING AN OPENING SUBSTANTIALLY IN THE CENTER THEREOF AND A RECESSED BOTTOM, A MATCHING CENTRAL PART FITTED AGAINST SAID RECESSED BOTTOM OF SAID TOP PORTION FROM UNDERNEATH SO AS TO ENGAGE THE UNDERSIDE OF SAID TOP PORTION, SAID CENTRAL PART HAVING A HOLLOW NECK BELOW THE OPENING OF SAID TOP PORTION TO RECEIVE THE NECK OF THE CANISTER, A MAIN PASSAGEWAY FOR CONDUCTING LIQUID BY CAPILLARY ACTION FROM THE CANISTER TOWARD THE PAD, SAID MAIN PASSAGEWAY BEING PROVIDED VERTICALLY IN SAID CENTRAL PART AND LEADING DOWNWARDLY FROM SAID HOLLOW NECK AND A CONICAL RECESS HAVING ITS HEIGHT CENTRAL POINT AT THE LOWER END OF SAID MAIN PASSAGEWAY, AND AN INSERT FITTING INTO SAID RECESS SO THAT A CLEARANCE REMAINS BETWEEN THE SURFACE OF THE RECESS AND THE SURFACE OF THE INSERT WHEREBY OUTWARDLY SLOPING BRANCH PASSAGEWAY ARE FORMED, THE BOTTOM FACE OF SAID LIQUID APPLYING HEAD BEING FORMED PARTLY BY THE OUTER PORTION OF SAID CENTRAL PART AND PARTLY BY THE BOTTOM FACE OF SAID INSERT, SAID BRANCH PASSAGEWAYS BEING IN DIRECT INTERCONNECTION WITH SAID MAIN PASSAGEWAY. 